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Option 1 -Discussion on Legal and Ethical Issues in Education

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Option 1 -Discussion on Legal and Ethical Issues in Education

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Sylvia Padilla is the assistant principal at 3D Academy in Donna, Texas. She has held the position at the alternative high school for the past 10 years and primarily services the districts at-risk population. I chose to interview Ms. Padilla because she holds a great reputation for helping to graduate hundreds of students who were on the verge of dropping out of school. In my future role as an administrator, I hope to follow in her footsteps.

Question 1: Can you tell me about any current legal issues that are impacting your work?

Accoring to Ms. Paddila, the DACA program is affecting many families and hurting the school district. As the majority of attending students are undocumented immigrants, they feel their safety and future are in jeopardy. It is causing students stress, anxiety, and many absences due to family deportation.

Question 2: What student or employee rights do you find you have to keep in mind in relation to your work?

Ms. Padilla stated that administrators have to understand the rights regarding the special population. They must continuously monitor whether the campus is following the correct process in servicing and disciplining the special education and 504 students. As parents are aware of laws protecting their child's educational needs, it is important for the campus and district to ensure policies and procedures are followed to avoid legal action.

Question 3: Can you share a student or employment situation where you worried about the legal or ethical implications?

Ms. Padilla stated that she worried about both the legal and ethical implications involved when disciplining a special education student. According to Ms. Padilla, the situation occurred at the beginning of the school year. The student was making terroristic threats, hit a teacher, and made inappropriate comments about an employee. As Ms. Padilla had never dealt with this type of situation before, she was not sure how to intervene. She understood the students rights, but also felt the individual should be removed from campus. However, the special education director and school principal shared different views, as the students disability prevents the individual from acting appropriately.

Question 4: Are there any policies or rules you are currently or have recently revised or changed because of legal or ethical issues?

Ms. Padilla stated that her campus services the at-risk population in the district. However, it was created to help students who want to graduate receive their high school diploma. Although, over the past few year the superintendent has allowed other campuses to send their most troubling students. Therefore, this year campus administrators have implemented a policy that place all students on a probationary period. If their behavior or grades do not improve, the school is allowed to send them back to their primary campus.

Question 5: Have you provided or received any training recently on legal or ethical issues? How do you stay current on legal issues in your field?

According to Ms. Padilla, she has provided her staff with Title IX trainings and conducted reviews on the educators code of ethics. Ms. Padilla also stated that she stays current on legal issues by researching and attending workshops.

Reference

(S. Padilla, personal communication, June 8, 2018)

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In the article Court Rules School Out of Line in Disciplining Social Media Post, the author describes the legal action taken against a Pennsylvania high school (Jacobson, 2017). According to Jacobson (2017), a principal for the Pennsylvania school district disciplined a student for swearing on a social media post made during her personal time. As punishment, the student was removed from the school’s junior varsity cheerleading team. However, a federal court issued a preliminary ruling stating that campus leaders do not have the right to discipline students for posts made off school premises (Jacobson, 2017). The author continues by stating, “as more student’s behavior occurs in a virtual space, school administrators don’t always have a clear direction over what they can and can’t police” (Jacobson, 2017, para. 4). In addition, it is often difficult for principals to not interfere as certain posts can ultimately affect a student's learning and well-being. Due to very little guidance and the division from federal and state courts, administrators are unsure whether they can discipline students for specific off campus behaviors. However, this issue will soon be addressed by the United States Supreme Court to determine if educational leaders can punish students for abusing their first amendment right (Jacobson, 2017).

Reference

Jacobson, L. (2017). Court rules school out of line in disciplining social media post. Education Dive. Retrieved from https://www.educationdive.com/news/court-rules-school-out-of-line-in-disciplining-social-media-post/507054/

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After completing my master’s degree in educational administration, my professional goal is to become principal for a Title I school at the secondary level.

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In the article Courts Take Expansive View in Transgender-Rights Cases, the author discusses two ruling decisions that helped to protect transgender students from antidiscrimination laws. The first court case was with the Boyertown school district in which the federal appeals court allowed transgender students to use any restroom or locker room of their choice. Although many students were in favor of the decision, others did not agree and claimed it was a violation of their privacy (Walsh, 2018). However, according to Walsh (2018), the U.S. Court of Appeals issued a statement declaring their support for the district’s transgender-inclusive policy. The second court case was with the Virginia school district. The federal district judge ruled to change the district’s policy to allow a female-born transgender to use a male’s restroom. The courts found that LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) students are legally protected under Title IX and the 14th Amendment. Therefore, district leaders should not discriminate or prevent students from receiving equal protection or opportunities (Walsh, 2018).

Reference

Walsh, M. (2018). Courts take expansive view in transgender-rights cases. Education Week, 37(34), 1-26. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/06/06/courts-take-expansive-view-in-transgender-rights-cases.html

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DACA Decision Could Impact 8,800 Educators

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DACA Decision Could Impact 8,800 Educators

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The article explains the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and how the educational field could be affected if it were to end. As many school districts employ teachers protected by DACA, their deportation would significantly impact the availability of bilingual educators. I chose this article because I work with a large population of teachers and students who are a part of the DACA program. If DACA were to end, many of my students and colleagues could be deported. Not only do immigrants fear for their future, school employees fear for the future success of their campus and bilingual department (Riddell, 2018).

Reference

Riddell, R. (2018). DACA decision could impact 8,800 educators. Education Dive. Retrieved from https://www.educationdive.com/news/daca-decision-could-impact-8800-educators/515804/

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Brief

Dive Brief:

Around 8,800 teachers are among those who will be impacted by the outcome of battles between Congress and the Trump administration over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, NPR reports.

Districts nationwide have hired teachers on work permits under the program, but many could face deportation if the program is ended.

The judicial system could also still weigh in on the matter and overturn any decision made by the legislative or administrative branches, with NPR reporting that teacher unions and the National School Boards Association are among those supporting lawsuits protecting teachers working under DACA permits.

Dive Insight:

The 690,000 undocumented immigrants currently protected by DACA also includes many students. Schools and districts have made strides in recent years to better serve this population by improving programs for English language learners, many of whom come from Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America. In many cases, these programs have also offered a dual benefit for English-speaking students when a dual-language approach is embraced. Benefits cited have included the rare chance to integrate students with different backgrounds with relatively little backlash.

A significant hurdle administrators may face should a DACA decision result in the threat of mass deportations, aside from the overall loss of teaching talent, is potential difficulty in hiring bilingual educators who can replace those lost in these dual-language programs.

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DACA decision could impact 8,800 educators

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Brief Around 8,800 teachers are among those who will be impacted by the outcome of battles between Congress and the Trump administration over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, NPR reports. Districts nationwide have hired teachers on work permits under the program, but many could face deportation if the program is ended.

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Reference

Sulkowski, M. L. (2017). Unauthorized immigrant students in the United States: The current state of affairs and the role of public education. ScienceDirect, 77, 62-68.
Retrieved from http://resolver.ebscohost.com.easydb.angelo.edu/openurl?sid=EBSCO:a9h&genre=article&issn=01907409&ISBN=&volume=77&issue=&date=20170601&spage=62&pages=62-68&title=Children%20&%20Youth%20Services%20Review&atitle=Unauthorized%20immigrant%20students%20in%20the%20United%20States%3A%20The%20current%20state%20of%20affairs%20and%20the%20role%20of%20public%20education.&aulast=Sulkowski%2C%20Michael%20L.&id=DOI:10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.04.006

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Reference

Toppo, G. (2017). 20,000 DACA teachers at risk-and your kids could feel the fallout, too. USA Today. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/10/11/thousands-daca-teachers-risk/752082001/

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CLOSE

Growing up in metro Atlanta, Yehimi Adriana Cambrón Álvarez could see Cross Keys High School from her bedroom window.

Born in Morelia, in Mexico's central Michoacán state, a place especially hard-hit by the country's drug war, she was brought to De Kalb County, Ga., as a child. Cambrón grew up as an undocumented immigrant, one of an estimated 11.3 million. She graduated from Cross Keys and earned a studio art degree in 2014.

She's now deep into her third year teaching art at her alma mater.

"This has kind of been my dream, to come back and teach here," Cambrón said on Tuesday as she prepped for classes. "This is a community that I grew up in - this is where I call home."

Her well-laid plans could soon collapse: Last month, the Trump administration began winding down Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the 2012 Obama administration program designed to protect undocumented immigrants brought here as children.

If lawmakers can't fix DACA, Cambrón and thousands of teachers like her could face deportation when their work permits expire - in her case, that happens in February 2018.

Her students, she said, are "very aware of what's happening" with the program. "It's very real for them."

Cambrón added: "They're just in shock that I could be taken away from the classroom like that."

Yehimi Cambrón Álvarez, 25, an Atlanta high school art teacher, at work on a mural. Álvarez risks deportation in February if Congress doesn't act on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the 2012 Obama administration program designed to protect undocumented immigrants who were brought here as children. (Photo: Kristin Ferro)

Nationwide, an estimated 20,000 DACA-eligible teachers - many of them possessing key Spanish-language skills that are in high demand - could be plucked from the classroom if the program is phased out.

More: White House issues list of hard-line immigration demands

Losing that many teachers would have a huge impact on kids, said Viridiana Carrizales of Teach For America, the elite teacher-preparation program that has begun advocating for the program. "We cannot afford to lose so many teachers and impact so many students," she said. "Every time a student loses a teacher, that is a disruption in the student's learning."

Recent findings by the Economic Policy Institute, a D.C.-based think tank backed by labor unions, suggest that public schools are already in a teacher shortage bind: An Oct. 6 report found that given rising student populations, public schools are short by about 327,000 educators.

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Just three weeks after he extended an olive branch to Democratic leaders in a bid to fix DACA, President Trump on Sunday sent Congress a long list of demands that he said "must be included" as part of any legislation addressing the status of so-called DREAMers like Cambrón.

The hardline requirements include:

building a border wall;

hiring thousands of border guards;

expanding the use of electronic employment verification systems.

Democrats quickly rejected the demands. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the proposal "cruel and unacceptable to the DREAMers, opposed by the overwhelming majority of Americans, and anathema to the values of our nation itself."

The stalemate could put the program at risk, but DACA's long-standing uncertainty has pushed teachers' groups to play a more active role in pressing Congress to fix it.

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten last month called Trump's move to wind down DACA "a heartless assault on young immigrants and on our communities," adding, "The young people covered by DACA are woven into the fabric of American society. They contribute to our economic growth and our diversity."

Soon after President Obama in 2012 proposed the DREAM Act, an executive order that protected immigrants brought to the U.S. before they turned 16, TFA leaders learned that hundreds - and perhaps thousands - of eligible teacher applicants were ineligible due to their immigration status. At the time, TFA rules dictated that applicants had to be permanent residents or U.S. citizens to be considered as "corps members."

The following year, TFA changed its admissions process to accept undocumented applicants. That year, it admitted exactly two. But now, four years later, TFA boasts 100 "DACAmented" teachers serving an estimated 10,000 students in 11 states. TFA says another 88 alumni are undocumented.

But other organizations that work in schools haven't tweaked their requirements. City Year, which sends young college graduates to serve as support staff to needy schools in 28 cities, doesn't accept DACA recipients, a spokeswoman said.

Michelle Mittelstadt, spokeswoman for the Migration Policy Institute, the D.C.-based think tank that calculated the 20,000 estimate, said few Americans grasp that DREAMers, as a group, are highly educated, having been schooled and acculturated in the U.S., in most cases.

"I think it's not well-perceived that this is a population that has largely gone through school in the United States," she said. "They are in the workforce, and they are in the workforce, in some cases, in middle-skill and higher-skilled jobs."

Cambrón, the art teacher, agreed: "People do think we're these criminals who are in hiding, but the reality is that, especially because of DACA, we are your teachers, we are your lawyers. We're in the professional sphere now. We're working in the school systems. We're in the military."

TFA's Carrizales noted that her program, which has placed thousands of teachers in U.S. schools since 1990, is "very selective," with many applicants graduating from the best universities in the nation.

Carrizales, 29, who began working in TFA's San Antonio office in 2012, had already been on the job for more than a year when TFA in 2013 created a new position focused exclusively on immigration issues and advocacy. She's now TFA's managing director for DACA.

"It has been powerful to have our teachers who have DACA status in the classroom, because our young undocumented students can now see themselves in their teachers," she said.

Carrizales grew up in Dallas - like many DREAMers, she came to U.S. at a young age (she was 11). Fear of being discovered, she recalled, was omnipresent.

"I felt sometimes like I didn't even want to try in school ... if my status was always going to get in the way," she said.

That stress affects an estimated 3.9 million students in K-12 schools who are either undocumented or have a parent who is undocumented, she said. "How can that kid learn? How can that kid focus in class? How can that kid pay attention when all of these things are happening around them? We cannot, as educators, do our job if our kids are coming to school afraid."

Christian Aguilar, 24, a middle school bilingual teacher in San Jose, Calif., arrived in with his family from Mexico when he was 10. He grew up in San Jose and now says his DACA ordeal has shown him the strength of his community - especially the strength of his students, many of whom live in mixed-status families themselves, with some members fretting about their immigration status while others live here legally.

"They're becoming a lot more strong in terms of their emotions," he said. "They told me that they want me to continue being in the classroom and that they support me all the way - and that they'll just be there for me."

Cambrón, who is also a muralist, said DACA has given Americans the chance to "see us officially and hear our stories and understand that if people are given the opportunity to pursue their passion and their careers and their dreams, then they will accomplish great things and make great contributions."

But for her students, it's a double-edged sword. They see the potential, but they also see the risk to their own family members, many of whom are undocumented.

"They know," she said. "They know and they feel that fear."

She has been open about her status since the beginning. Following the recent uncertainty she has begun holding DACA staff training for her colleagues - and discussion groups for her students.

"You build relationships with the students. They open up to you," she said. "I can't imagine having to leave."
Follow Greg Toppo on Twitter: @gtoppo
Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2ybLSug

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20,000 DACA teachers at risk - and your kids could feel the fallout, too

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CLOSE Growing up in metro Atlanta, Yehimi Adriana Cambrón Álvarez could see Cross Keys High School from her bedroom window. Born in Morelia, in Mexico's central Michoacán state, a place especially hard-hit by the country's drug war, she was brought to De Kalb County, Ga., as a child.

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Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)

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Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)

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Over the past few years there has been an increase in the number of undocumented families entering the United States. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was created by the Obama administration which was designed to protect parents and their children from deportation. In addition, it allowed immigrants to obtain education and employment opportunities. However, the Trump administration is pressuring congress to end the DACA program, which is breaking families apart. The parent separation is affecting millions of students emotionally, financially, and academically. Therefore, educational leaders are exploring ways to assist and support their at-risk population during this current issue (Sulkoski, 2017).

With the possible end of the DACA program, principals are not only concerned about the well-being of their students. School leaders across the nation have thousands of employees who are working under the protection of DACA. If teachers were to be deported once their work permits expire, principals would lose a high number of quality educators. Many teachers under the DACA program are bilingual certified and are in high demand. Countless positions would remain vacant affecting the ELL population. In addition, teacher to student ratio would increase, while student achievement declines (Toppo, 2017).

The topic of DACA is important to educators because it pertains to a large number of students and teachers in America (Toppo, 2017). The legal issue addressed is whether congress will allow the trump administration to change the immigration law to prevent undocumented families from residing in this country. The ethical issue is the way educational leaders respond to their at-risk population. While some principals believe it is important to assist students in this situation, others are ignoring the topic completely (Sulkoski, 2017). In my future role as an administrator, it will be my responsibility to determine how I will protect and support my staff and students in the DACA program. As principal, I will communicate and collaborate with stakeholders to educate members on their rights. Additional action will include providing programs and support services to families in need.

Reference

Sulkowski, M. L. (2017). Unauthorized immigrant students in the United States: The current state of affairs and the role of public education. ScienceDirect, 77, 62-68.
Retrieved from http://resolver.ebscohost.com.easydb.angelo.edu/openurl?sid=EBSCO:a9h&genre=article&issn=01907409&ISBN=&volume=77&issue=&date=20170601&spage=62&pages=62-68&title=Children%20&%20Youth%20Services%20Review&atitle=Unauthorized%20immigrant%20students%20in%20the%20United%20States%3A%20The%20current%20state%20of%20affairs%20and%20the%20role%20of%20public%20education.&aulast=Sulkowski%2C%20Michael%20L.&id=DOI:10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.04.006

Toppo, G. (2017). 20,000 DACA teachers at risk-and your kids could feel the fallout, too. USA Today. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/10/11/thousands-daca-teachers-risk/752082001/